A day after the Nashik District and Sessions Court sentenced Maharashtra’s Sports Minister and NCP leader Manikrao Kokate to two years in prison for fraudulent acquisition of flats under the Chief Minister’s Housing Scheme, the government transferred all his portfolios to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
Despite the conviction, Kokate remains a minister without a portfolio, as the state government and the Governor have not officially declared his removal.
Judge PM Badar instructed Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Rupali Narwadiya to execute the sentence without delay, authorising the court to issue summons for Kokate’s arrest following the upholding of an earlier verdict. The case, registered at Nashik’s Sarkarwada Police Station in 1997, involved four accused, including Kokate and his brother.
Kokate and his brother were found guilty of obtaining four flats at Canada Corner, Nashik, by misusing the 10 per cent reserved quota in the Chief Minister’s Housing Scheme. The flats, allotted at concessional rates in 1995, were acquired through forgery and cheating. The court ordered immediate enforcement and warned that failure to pay the fine would result in an additional month of imprisonment.
The proceedings began after a petition filed by former minister Tukaram Dighole, leading to a lengthy investigation and trial. Nearly three decades after the initial registration, the Sessions Court’s decision upholds the earlier conviction, reinforcing consequences for public officials found guilty of abusing welfare schemes.
Manikrao Kokate, aged 67, is currently MLA from Sinnar, having served multiple terms since 1999, with a recent return to the assembly in 2024 as a candidate from Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction.
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